San Benito High boys basketball coach David Kaplansky has become accustomed to a new player stepping up offensively for his team each game.
On Friday night at Christopher, that player was senior guard Michael Breen.
Breen scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the first half to help the Balers roll to a 55-42 road win over the Cougars.
“That was a big part of our day today,” Kaplansky said of Breen. “Michael was fantastic for us. It’s kind of like a new guy every game, and Michael carried us in the first half and did a great job finding the cracks in the zone, especially in the beginning when they were box-and-oneing Hyram (Miskin).”
Breen finished 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.
“We did a nice job of trying to slash through the paint,” Kaplansky said. “I was real proud of (Breen’s) start. I thought it gave us a lot of motivation early in the game with his performance.”
Jacob Tonascia added 18 points and Robert Henderson scored 10 for San Benito, which improved to 13-2 overall and 2-0 in the Monterey Bay League.
Breen jump-started the Balers’ offense with his 14 first-half points, helping San Benito build a 31-17 halftime lead.
San Benito outscored Christopher (1-1 MBL) by a 17-6 margin in the second quarter to take control.
“Christopher’s really good,” Kaplansky said. “The thing I was telling the kids right now in the locker room was how important winning road games is. This is a tough league. Every road game we know is going to be truly challenging; it makes every game big for us.
“Tonight I was real proud. I thought our first half showed our kids were ready to play. We had a good game plan coming in, and we attacked them really well.”
Tonascia scored 10 points in the second half to help the Balers hold off the Cougars.
“He’s been the most consistent player all year,” Kaplansky said of Tonascia. “I’m real proud of him. He’s been strong on the glass, his rebounding’s been real good, and he’s just done a great job around the paint.”
Andrew Foster led Christopher with 16 points. Wyatt Rocheleau added 10 points for the Cougars.
“I thought he played a wonderful game,” Cougars coach Kaden Bahner said of Foster on both ends of the court. “I was very pleased with Andrew’s effort.”
